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Exposure to Nanomaterials from the Danish Environment

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Exposure to Nanomaterials from the Danish Environment Exposure to nanomaterials from the Danish Environment Environmental project No. 1633, 2015 Title: Editing: Exposure to nanomaterials from the Danish Poul Bo Larsen, DHI Environment Jesper Kjølholt, COWI Published by: The Danish Environmental Protection Agency Strandgade 29 1401 Copenhagen K Denmark www.mst.dk/english Year: ISBN no. 2015 978-87-93283-54-1 Disclaimer: When the occasion arises, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency will publish reports and papers concerning research and development projects within the environmental sector, financed by study grants provided by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. It should be noted that such publications do not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. However, publication does indicate that, in the opinion of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, the content represents an important contribution to the debate surrounding Danish environmental policy. Sources must be acknowledged. 2 Exposure to nanomaterials from the Danish Environment Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................... 5 Summary and conclusions ............................................................................................ 7 Comparison of exposure to ultrafine particles from various sources .......................................... 13 Sammenfatning og konklusion .................................................................................... 16 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 25 2. Ambient air .......................................................................................................... 26 2.1 Measurement of nanoparticles/ ultrafine particles ............................................................ 26 2.2 Ultrafine particles in ambient air .........................................................................................27 2.2.1 Levels and composition/characterisation .............................................................27 2.2.2 Sources .................................................................................................................. 32 2.3 Exposure ............................................................................................................................... 36 2.4 Health effects of particles and ultrafine particles in ambient air ...................................... 38 2.4.1 Hazards .................................................................................................................. 38 2.4.2 Mechanistic considerations .................................................................................. 39 2.4.3 Most relevant metric in relation to adverse health effects ................................... 41 2.4.4 Recent data on effects from ambient air pollution in Denmark ......................... 42 2.4.5 Recent European data, ESCAPE........................................................................... 43 2.4.6 Dose-response estimates for ultrafine particles; EC, or black carbon ................ 45 2.5 Overall, exposure and risk in relation to ultrafine particles ...............................................47 3. Indoor air ............................................................................................................. 49 3.1 Indoor levels of ultrafine particles ...................................................................................... 49 3.1.1 Indoor particle number concentrations ............................................................... 49 3.1.2 Indoor particle mass concentration ...................................................................... 51 3.2 Sources for indoor ultrafine particles .................................................................................. 51 3.2.1 Candle light ............................................................................................................ 51 3.2.2 Tobacco smoke particles ....................................................................................... 52 3.2.3 Cooking .................................................................................................................. 52 3.2.4 Fire place/ wood burning ......................................................................................53 3.2.5 Electric devices .......................................................................................................53 3.3 Overall exposure considerations from indoor air ............................................................... 54 3.4 Health effects of ultrafine particles in indoor air ................................................................55 4. Drinking water and soil ....................................................................................... 57 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 57 4.2 Drinking water ...................................................................................................................... 57 4.2.1 Measurement of nanoparticles/ ultrafine particles .............................................. 57 4.2.2 Possible sources of NMs in drinking water .......................................................... 63 4.3 Soil ........................................................................................................................................ 63 4.3.1 Measurement of nanoparticles/ ultrafine particles ............................................. 63 4.3.2 Possible sources of NMs in soil ............................................................................ 64 4.4 Exposure and risk ................................................................................................................ 65 5. Exposure to ultrafine particles from the environment, perspective .................... 66 Exposure to nanomaterials from the Danish Environment 3 5.1 Exposure overview ............................................................................................................... 66 5.1.1 Ambient air ............................................................................................................ 66 5.1.2 Indoor air ................................................................................................................67 5.1.3 Personal exposure during a day.............................................................................67 5.1.4 Exposure to nanomaterial from consumer products ........................................... 68 5.2 Comparison of exposure ...................................................................................................... 69 5.3 Comparison of risk ................................................................................................................ 71 References ................................................................................................................... 72 4 Exposure to nanomaterials from the Danish Environment Preface Nanomaterials (NM) are found in a wide range of consumer products and the commercial use of nanomaterials is anticipated to increase rapidly in the near future both in quantity and diversity. It is increasingly recognised that materials in the nanoform can have unique properties as compared to the microforms and macroforms of the same material. This favours the use of NM in products, articles and technologies. At the same time, concerns in relation to the possible health and environmental properties and impacts of NMs have surfaced. On this background, the Danish government and the Red-Green Alliance (a.k.a. Enhedslisten) have signed an agreement for four years (2012-2015) that focuses on the use of NM in products available on the Danish market and their impact on consumers and the environment. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated a series of projects with the aim of further clarifying possible risks to consumers and the environment. The current project addresses consumer exposure and risk assessment of nanomaterials in products on the Danish market. It runs from third quarter 2013 through second quarter 2015. The project is foreseen to result in four reports: - Exposure assessment of nanomaterials in consumer products - Hazard assessment of nanomaterials in consumer products - Human exposure to nanomaterials in the environment – as a reference to nanomaterials exposure from consumer products (the current report) - Consumer risk assessment and overall conclusions (final report). The first three reports will be finalised during 2014, whereas the final report with the consumer risk assessment and overall conclusions will be finalised in the second quarter of 2015. The overall project has been implemented with support from a reference group: Susan Dekker, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), The Netherlands Andrea Haase, Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR), Germany Gregory Moore, Swedish Chemicals Agency (KEMI), Sweden Derk Brouwer, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), The Netherlands Lena Høglund (Danish EPA) Katrine Bom (Danish EPA) Anne Mette Boisen (Danish EPA) Kim Petersen (Danish EPA) The reference group has assisted with comments and ideas, but is not responsible for the content of the project reports. This report covers human exposure to nanomaterials in the environment – as a reference
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